S.F. says focus this week has been on all but Harper
standard winter-meetings fare to go over several players on the Giants’ wish list whom Boras represents. His clients include left-handers Dallas Keuchel and Yusei Kikuchi (from Japan).
Zaidi visited Boras’ suite after a slight delay. Zaidi initially misread the room number and knocked on the wrong door.
“I realized it before anybody came out, so rather than standing there and apologizing, I made a run for it,” Zaidi said.
On Wednesday morning, the agent stood before a Christmas tree at the Mandalay Bay hotel and conducted his annual State of the Scott news conference. He offered no specifics on where Harper might sign, but every general answer turned to how Harper wants to know each owner’s team-building goals for the next decade and how organizations should view the 26-yearold like a capital investment that promises wild returns.
No Boras news conference is complete without a fun analogy. In this case, Boras went medical to suggest that the Yankees are really in on Harper even though general manager Brian Cashman has said they are not.
“When the nurse walks into the room with a thermometer, the issue is not what the thermometer says that day,” Boras said. “The issue is what’s the health of the patient when they’re ready to leave the hospital?
“They,” he said, meaning the Yankees, “are not ready to leave the hospital yet.”
So, are the Giants in a nearby ward? They have scrupulously avoided any hint one way or the other on Harper, which is good business. But even if their attentions are not there now, they could be later.
The Giants’ agreement last winter to acquire Giancarlo Stanton from the Marlins, which Stanton rejected before forcing a deal to the Yankees, came on suddenly and surprised some in the San Francisco organization who were not aware that ownership was willing to take on roughly $250 million in salary for one player.
The Chronicle asked Boras whether Harper would sign with a team that might not be primed to win in 2019, like the Giants, but whose owners make a strong case to Harper that they plan to build a contender around him.
“I think the effectiveness in ownership in meetings is one where they come and talk about histories,” Boras said. “They talk about their ability to create a winning modality which is consistent with what a club may do over a 10- to 15-year period. If they can establish that, when you’re looking to sign a long-term contract, you’re basically looking at a franchise in the long term, not the short term.”
Kikuchi was posted by the Seibu Lions and has the Giants’ interest. Boras said the 27-year-old will meet with teams to hear their pitches this month in Los Angeles.
The Giants and several other teams went through that exercise last winter with Shohei Ohtani, also in Los Angeles with a different agency. When news leaked later that Ohtani was keen on the Angels all along, some competing executives were ticked.
Now, as The Chronicle has reported, Kikuchi is very keen on the Giants. They might be his first choice if a deal can be arranged.
They will have competition.
“The market for Kikuchi is vast,” Boras said. “Whether you’re a developmental club, a club that is a playoff team or getting there, all have expressed interest in him.”